The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has reiterated to the public their commitment to maintaining a neutral stance and limited involvement in the upcoming December 7 general elections. This follows concerns raised by stakeholders regarding the possibility of military presence at polling stations.
GAF clarified that soldiers will not be stationed at polling stations during the elections, emphasizing their position on the matter.
Their involvement will be limited to providing support to the police and will only occur when specifically requested.
During a meeting with the University Teachers Association of Ghana (UTAG), Brigadier General Kweku Dankwa Hagan, head of operations, training, and peacekeeping at the Armed Forces headquarters, emphasized the military’s dedication to maintaining peace and order.
We acknowledge that there is a portion of the population who may have concerns about military personnel participating in the election. The election is primarily being managed by the Ghana Police Service and other security services under the Ministry of Interior. I want to make it clear.
They are the individuals you will encounter at more than 40,000 polling locations. At a polling station, military personnel like me will not be present.
Please rest assured that we will not be in attendance. We have discussed with both the police service and the Electoral Commission regarding over 1,000 potential flashpoints and hostile areas, and we are prepared to deploy personnel to these locations.
We will only step in if the police service specifically requests our assistance.
The Election Security Taskforce is working to enhance public trust in the security measures for the upcoming polls by providing this assurance.
